Motor vehicle



April 30, 1940.

F. c. BEST 2,199,036 1 MOTOR VEHICLE Filed Oct. 29, 193'? 2 Sheets-Sheet1 April 30, 1940. I F, c. BEST MOTOR VEHICLE Filed 00th 29, 193'? 2Sheets-Sheet 2 no g Y 2,199,036

" u ir-Eo STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Moron VEHICLE Frank 0. Best, Detroit,Mich, assignor to Packard Motor Car Company, Detroit, Mich, acorporation of Michigan Q Application October 29, 1937, s rial No.171,794

10 Claims. 180-69) I'hepresent invention relates to the front endimportant radiator an r grill Supporting body construction of a motorvehicle of the type means whereby these elements may be secured in whichthe engine is positioned in advance of tothe vehic e fra in a e of e ene i the driver's seat and concealed from view and an imp oved er, theuse of the customa y 5 protected from the weather by a sheet, metalbracing struts being dispensed with and th sid 5 .casing, commonlydesignated a hood. plates of theengine enclosin'gcasing being made It isof course essential that the engine of a use of as longitudinallyextending radiator bracmotor vehicle be readily accessible, togetherwith ing or supporting members. Again the side plates the varioussupplementary mechanisms assoof the casing are detachably secured inposition ciated with the engine, for the purpose of lubrland the-fendersare permanently secured to the 10 cation, inspection and repair. Inevery case, side plates. The number. of securing devices emtherefore,the casing within which the engine is ployed for the attachment'of theside plates to enclosed is p'rovidedwith removable or displacethevehicle are minimized with the result that able sections which, whenlifted or swung aside, any ne ir n to completely xpose the engine makeit possible for the operator, gas station can do so quickly, each sideplate and its asso- 15 attendant, or repair man to inspect,lubricate orciated and permanently attached fender being adjust and repair theotherwise hidden mecharemovable as a unitary structure. The various.nisi'np Usually the-engine is covered by a hood securing devicesemployed for the attachment of "comprising metallic sheets hingedlyconnected the side plates are, for the most part, hidden 0 to a centrallongitudinally extending rod, either from the normal view of theobserver with the side of this hood being adapted to be lifted afterresult that the appearance of the vehicle body its lower edge hasbeen-disconnected from. the is enhanced. Q 1 members to which it iscustomarily attached by By way of example one form of motoryehielelatches'or the like. Another type of easing now body constructionembodying the severalfeatures coming into widespread use comprises,instead of of the invention is illustrated in. the accompany- 25 twosideportions, either or both of which may ing drawings, in which:

be lifted, a single sheet metal door or bonnet over- Figure 1 Ba sideview of the forward end of a lying the engine, this bonnet having itsforward motor vehicle embodying the invention; end detachably secured inclosed position by a Figure 2 is a similar view but showing the singlelatch, and its rear end connected to the bonnet lifted. ne S p ate, withits attached 30 body for 'pivota1 movement about a horizontal fender,having been removed; axis transverse to thebody. Figure 3 is a top planview of the vehicle for- The present invention relates particularly toward end, Po y broken ay; l constructions of this last mentioned typeand its Fi ure i a section on line of Figure 3;

5 purpose is to'provide an improved construction Figure 5 is a Section011 line 55- of Figure 1;

having a number ofimportant advantages over Figure is 3 560171011 Online o gu e 1; those heretofore. designed or suggested. Thus nd V thebonnet is so pivotally connected to the body Figure 7 is a section online 1-1 of Figure 4. that the horizontal axis about which it is rotatedThe vehicle body includes the usual supporting 40 whenliftedisinrear ofand elevated substantially frame of which the side sills Ill comprisethe 40 above the axes of pivotal movement of bonnets principal orheaviermembers, these side sills beheretofore designed or used, so that greaterclearing horizontally spaced from each other and exance between thebonnet and the engine is ob tending longitudinally of the vehicle bodyin the tained for a given angular upward movement of customary manner.Extending upwardly from the bonnet and accessto the engine and auxiliaryeach side sill is a pastor pillar ll (shown in 45 mechanismsfacilitated. Furthermore by so section in Figure 5), and which is ofsufllciently mounting the bonnet for pivotal movement it heavy sectiontocarry the weight of a door and may be extended rearwarly to overliethe cowl to also serve as a stiffening member and a-supand eliminate ahinge joint, the rear edge of the port for certain of the metalliccovering sheets.

bonnet normally closely paralleling the upper A door is indicated at I!and in Figures 1 and 2 50 edge of the cowl at the base of thewindshield, the hinges by means of which the door is pivotalthe bonnetbeing unbroken, from the windshield 1y connected to the pillar areindicated at l3 to its forward end, thus effectively excluding Above theupper hinge the pillar H terminates water and presenting an attractiveappearance. and the corner post l4 (shown in section in Fig- Theinvention also contemplates a novel and ure 6) serves as a cornersupport for the top and 55 as a support for the outer edge of thewindshield, indicated at It. The pillar II and corner post i4 may be,insofar as details of construction are concerned, of any of the usualtypes commonly prises crossed tubular struts 2|, the lower end of,

each strut 2| being secured by means of a bolt or other attachmentdevice, to a side sill l0 and the upper ends of these struts beingunsupported by any structural member. The support 20 also includes thehorizontally disposed member 22, this member being attached atsubstantially its midpoint to the struts 2|, 9. bolt 23 passing throughthe struts 2|"where they intersect and also passing through member 22.

Side plates of sheet metal are indicated at 25, each of these sideplates extending from a pillar H forwardly to the edge of the grill IS,the forward upper corner of each such side plate being attached to theupper end of a diagonal strut 2| by means of a bolt 26 and being securedto the rearwardly turned end of transverse member 22 of the support 20by two bolts 21. At its rear edge each side plate is provided with aninwardly offset flange 25 which is attached to pillar II by three bolts28. The head of each ofbolts 28 is within the pillar -II and preferablywelded to the pillar, the rotatable nut 28 on the outer end of each boltbeing normally concealed by the door flange or bead l2, as will beobserved from an inspectionof Figure 5. Each side plate is thereforesecured in position by six bolts, three disposed along its rear edge andthree adjacent its front edge. To the side plates are permanentlysecured the fenders 30, as by means of a series of rivets- 3|, eachfender having a downwardly and inwardly extending portion 30' underlyingthe grill I9, the flanged edges of fender portions 30' being securedtogether by a bolt 32, and a socalled apron thus formed.

A wind deflecting pan is indicated at 33, the forward edge of this panbeing secured to the upper edge of the grill i9 and its rear edge being,

provided with a flange 33' bolted. or otherwise suitably secured to theupper forward face of the radiator l8. Radiator l8 also has its sidesattached to the frame or support 20, by means of brackets 34, whichbrackets are rigidly attached to the transverse member 22 of thesupport. Extensions or flanges l9 project rearwardly from the lateraledges of the grill which extensions are also attached to the ends oftransverse member 22 by one or the other, or both, securing bolts 21. Itis clear, therefore, that the grill and radiator are mounted upon thesupport 20 and also that the support is braced against movement in adirection longitudinally of the vehicle by the side plates 25. Theseplates, however, are of sufficient stiffness to adequately brace thesupporting frame 20 and prevent vibration of this frame,

and vibration of the grill and radiator. By means of bolts 21 also theusual fender supporting brackets may be attached to the support 20.These have not been shown. The side plate-securing bolts 28 are,- as haspreviously been explained, normally concealed by the leading edge of thedoor l2, the attachment bolts 21 are normally concealed by the fendersand the bolt 32 is not visible, being behind the apron. Hence only oneof the bolts which is made use of to secure each side plate andassociated fender in position is normally visible, this being the bolt28 and, if

' desired, this bolt may be either concealed or rendered highlyornamental for the sake of appearances.

Should it be desired to remove a side plate and fender in order thatcomplete access may be had to the engine, radiator and auxiliarydevices, the door l2 may be opened, bolts 28 removed and bolts, 21, 28and 32 removed, whereupon the side plate and fender assembly may belifted from position. This may be done very quickly and with a greatsaving in time as compared with prior body constructions. and fender maybe accomplished with equal ease.

The bonnet is indicated by the numeral 40 and is seen to comprise asingle unitary. member mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontaltransverse axis at its rear edge. Thus the bonnet has at each of itsrear corners an upward extension 40' provided with an aperture toreceive a bolt 4| fixed upon the corner post M. The rear margin of thebonnet 40 is upwardly curved to follow the configuration of the uppersurface of the cowl I6 when the bonnet is in its loweredposition and asealing strip 43 of rubber or composition material is interposed betweenthe upper surface of the cowl and the undersurface of the bonnet, beingpreferably secured to the cowl, this sealing strip being engaged by thebonnet when the bonnet is in lowered position, thus preventing inflow ofwater. The rear edge of the bonnet closely follows the upper edge ofthecowl at the base of the windshield and bonnet is unbroken between itsends. The attractiveness of the design is apparent, and completeprotection of the motor from water damage obtained.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A motor vehicle body construction comprising, in combination, spacedside sills, a transversely extending supportmounted on and bridging saidsills adjacent the forward ends thereof, a grill in advance of saidsupport, a radiator in rear thereof, means connecting the top of thegrill to the top of the support, means connecting the top of the grillto the top of the radiator, and additional means connecting the radiatorand support whereby the weight of the radiator is transferred to thesupport.

2. A motor vehicle body construction comprising,-in combination, spacedside sills, a'transversely extending support mounted on and bridgingsaid sills adjacent the forward ends thereof, a grill in advance ofsaidsupport, a radiator in rear thereof, a pan having its forward edgeconnected to-the top of the grill and its rearward edge connected to thetop of the radiator, and additional means connecting the radiator andsupport whereby the weight of the radiator is transferred to thesupport.

3. A motor vehicle body construction comprising, in combination, spacedside sills, a transversely extending support mounted on and bridgingsaid sills adjacent the forward ends thereof, a grill in advance of saidsupport, a radiator in rear thereof, a pan having its forward edgeconnected to the top of the grill and its rearward edge connected to thetop of the radiator, and

Replacement of side plate brackets connecting the sides ofthe radiatorto the support whereby the weight of the radiatoris transferred to thesupport.

4. The combination set forth in a transverse member, the ends of saidtransverse member being connected to the sides of the radiatorrespectively.

5. A motor vehicle body construction comprising spaced side sills,longitudinally spaced structural members mounted on said sills, sideplates having their ends detachably secured to said members, and fenderspermanently secured to said side plates whereby theside plates andfenders may be simultaneously removed.

6. A motor vehicle body construction comprising a side sill,longitudinally spaced structural members, extending upwardly therefrom,a side erable elements, and

ing a side sill, a

platehaving its forward and rearward ends detachably connected to saidmembers, and a fender permanently attached to said side plate. 1 7. Thecombination set forth in claim 6 -in which the rearward structuralmember comprises a door frame pillar, the rear edge of the side plate isattached to said pillar by bolts or like means, and a door has a portionoverlying and hiding said bolts when closed, the bolts being accessiblewhen the door is open.

8. A motor vehicle body construction comprisdoor frame pillar, a sideplate having its rear edge detachahly secured to said pillar byattaching means having manually opa door having an edge porclaim 1 inv'which said support comprises crossed struts and ends thereof connectedtion overlying and hiding said elements when ,closed said elements beingaccessible and operable from without the vehicle body when the door isopen. v

9. A motor vehicle body construction comprising, in combination. spacedside sills, frame members extending upwardly from said side sills, sideplates extending forwardly from said frame members, the rear ends ofsaid plates being directly attached to said frame members, atransversely extending 'support mounted on said sills in advance of saidframe members, the forward ends of said side plates being directlyattached to said support, a radiator, a horizontally extending memberaflixed to the support, brackets at the to the sides of the radiator,and means connecting the top of the radiator to the support.

10. A motor vehicle bodyconstruction comprising upstanding corner posts,a cowl intermediate the corner posts and extending forwardly therefrom,the top of the cowl being imperforate and there being an engine space inadvance of space.

FRANK C. BEST.

